Carson’s jaw tenses, and his grip tightens around my hand. “Possibly, but what makes you think that?”
“Well, unlike other girls that have been in your life, I have a brain.” I shake my head. “I noticed that you don’t have any pictures of them, and you never talk about them, so I assume that’s what you mean. I respect that, but I hope that you know I’m a good listener.” I lean in closer to him. “And no matter what I’ll always be your friend. You can even bet me on that.”
“I’ll remember that then.”
Our conversation is interrupted by my phone ringing. Of course, Mama is calling me early on a Saturday.
“Good morning, Mama.”
“Kinley, please explain to me why am I standing outside your apartment door and you’re not home?”
“Um.” As much as I don’t like lying to my mama, I’m not going to tell her the truth. “I had an early breakfast meeting this morning. That’s why I’m not home.”
I look over at Carson, and he has that evil grin on his face. “So, I’m a meeting now?”
I motion for him to be quiet as Mama’s voice grows louder in my ear. Before I can ever react, Carson grabs my cellphone from my hands.
“Mrs. Wright, how are you this morning?” he asks in his overly pleasant voice.
“What the hell?” I yell, trying to reach for my phone.
“Oh, I’m doing swell actually, thank you for asking. I’m just here enjoying this meeting with Kinley.” He jumps from his chair as I leap towards him to get back my phone.
Damn, he’s quick, and it sucks that I’m not.
He races to the other side of the deck, still talking. “Oh, well, you know Kinley, always working so hard, never taking a break. That’s why I suggested she stay the night with me last night. To make sure she was well rested for the meeting.”
“I’m going to kill you,” I hiss at him, jumping up for my phone.
“I know. I keep telling her to take a day off, but if she doesn’t listen to me, her own boyfriend and her mama, she just might be a lost cause.”
I stop moving. “You ass!” I scream at him. Carson Lee did the one thing I didn’t want to happen, and that was tell my mama anything about a relationship with him at this time.
“Yep…yep…I’m surprised she hadn’t told you.” He winks at me, and I’m frozen in place.
“You’re going to die! You know that, right? ” I yell again.
The jerk smiles at me. “Oh, yes, we’ll have to do dinner soon. Here’s Kinley.” He hands the phone back to me.
“Mama, I’ll call you back.” And I hang up the phone. “I’m going to kill you.”
“You have to catch me.” He bolts off the deck.
I chase after him, like I would a boy on a playground, but he’s much faster than I am. I can hear him laughing, which makes me more mad. I reach the side of the house where the pool is, and Carson quickly snatches me up.
“Put me down, Carson Lee, so I can kick your ass.”
“Okay, I’ll put you down.” He take five steps over to the pool, and before I can scream, he throws me in.
When I come up for air, I’m boili
ng with rage. “I can’t believe you did that.”
Carson is holding his side laughing hard. I climb out of the pool and notice that he’s closer to the edge than he thinks he is. Of course, I’m very ladylike when I shove him as hard as I can into the water.
Chapter Thirty
Carson